


In the Morning of the Magicians

by pierrot



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-30 23:26:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6446437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pierrot/pseuds/pierrot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sho knew that when a member of the Ministry knocked on your front door, it was best to act polite and hope they would leave quickly. Even if that meant having his ordinary life disrupted by a grouchy man who wanted to accuse Sho of something he didn't do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Morning of the Magicians

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted to [LJ.](http://pierrot.livejournal.com/1174.html)

Sakurai Sho was midway through his usual morning routine when it was interrupted by a sharp knock on his front door.

It was quite unfortunate timing as he’d just shovelled a large piece of toast into his mouth and the surprise of the unexpected disturbance caused him to choke on it, spraying crumbs and globs of jam everywhere. Sho hastily put the rest of his uneaten toast back down on the plate, trying to calm his coughing as he did so, and headed for the door.

There was another knock.

“I’m coming,” he mumbled through his mouthful of half-eaten breakfast, still attempting to swallow everything. He wondered who it could be bothering him this early in the morning. It was unusual for Sho to get visitors at all, except for Aiba, who usually let himself in, and he wasn’t expecting anyone. If it was Aiba and he lost his key again, Sho was going to be really annoyed, he thought as he reached for the doorknob.

It wasn’t Aiba. The man standing at the door was someone Sho had never seen before, but he looked very officious with the stiff, high collar of his navy uniform and the overly serious expression on his face. A very thick pair of dark eyebrows were drawn together starkly over too-large (but still undeniably handsome) features and the overall effect was rather intimidating. Sho looked down at the stripy pyjamas he still wore, ink-stained from a late-night brainwave that had gotten him out of bed to jot some notes and now also dotted with crumbs from his breakfast. He suddenly really regretted the choice to rush to eat before changing.

“Are you Sakurai Sho?” the man asked. Sho looked back up and nodded. “I’m a junior representative from the Ministry and I’m here to talk to you about a disturbance we recorded.”

“Disturbance?”

“Yes. In the magics that control the weather.”

Sho furrowed his brow. “And you think I had something to do with this?”

“Yes.”

“But that’s not possible.”

The man sighed and tapped a long finger against his thigh. “Look, this isn’t a matter for discussion or debate. I’m just here to tell you to stop doing whatever it is you’re doing. You won’t be so lucky to get off with a warning next time.”

“But I haven’t been doing anything!”

This was only met with a shrug. “Just fix it so I don’t have to come back.” And with a snap of those long fingers, the man disappeared into thin air, only a faint trace of lavender remaining where he previously stood.

Sho really hated it when people did that.

The man was back the next morning. Sho had traded his stripy pyjamas for a pair that were bright red and gold, which was hardly an improvement, although at least there were no crumbs or stains on them this time.

“You didn’t fix it,” he said as soon as Sho opened the door. His eyebrows looked even more alarming, if that was at all possible.

“I told you, I don’t know what it is that needs to be fixed! I’m sure I’m not doing anything that would cause any kind of magical disturbance.” The man’s expression remained unmoved and Sho rather wanted to slam the door in his face. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. “Listen, I just made some tea and I don’t want it to get cold, so could you please just come inside so we can talk about this and maybe get it figured out?”

Sho moved aside to allow the man to enter his apartment. The man waited a moment before stepping over the threshold and Sho shut the door behind him.

“I didn’t get your name before,” Sho said, turning to face the man where they stood on the landing.

“Is it necessary for you to know?”

Sho smiled. “No, but it would be nice to be able to refer to you in my head as something other than ‘the grumpy man with the large eyebrows who bothers me too early in the morning’.”

The man coloured at this, his face forming a small scowl. “Matsumoto Jun.”

“Okay then Matsumoto—”

“Jun is fine.”

“Jun. Would you like some tea?” Jun shook his head. “Well I’m going to just go get some, so you can wait where you like while I do so.”

With that Sho walked down the short staircase that led to the rest of his apartment and headed for the kitchenette at the back of the room. It wasn’t a very big apartment, being all that he could afford in the expensive capital on his modest salary. What free space he did have was covered with books; mostly on shelves that lined the walls, but some in piles on the floor and on the main table he used in the centre of the room.

Sho returned with his tea to find Jun standing at the table, leafing through some of his papers.

“Rare magical plant cultivation?” he asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow at Sho.

“It’s part of my research project. What I’ve been working on pretty much exclusively the past few weeks when I haven’t been lecturing.”

Jun frowned. Sho wondered if he could make any facial expressions that weren’t annoyed or unhappy.

“That doesn’t sound like the sort of thing that would result in the disturbance we recorded.”

“What exactly is the nature of the disturbance? Maybe if I knew I could help you.”

Jun mulled the question over for a moment, scrunching his mouth as if tasting something slightly bitter. He sighed and looked back at Sho. “There have been unexpected, and unaccounted for, severe storms in the East Quadrant. We believe it not to be a natural occurrence.”

By that Sho knew he was referring to system that was held in place for controlling the weather across their universe. The city they were in actually lay in the centre of a small island that was magically connected to many other large islands that surrounded them. All of these islands were divided into four areas, which were represented by different, equally divided quadrants on their island. Each quadrant reflected the climate and weather of their corresponding area, and were able to be magically monitored and controlled by the Ministry in the capital city. The city itself was protected by a spherical dome of ancient magic that kept it separate to the outer workings of the island.

It was an age-old system that had been carefully maintained for longer than had been recorded in the history books. Affecting the magics from outside the Ministry was not done lightly and could result in dire consequences. Sho knew it was a big problem if they seriously suspected him responsible for any tampering.

“So you think someone sent the storms using magic?” said Sho.

“Our investigations revealed definite traces of magical interference. Whether the storms were deliberate or a by-product of some other working is unclear at this point.”

“That sounds like something that would take a great deal of power.”

“It is.”

“And you think I had something to do with it?” Jun said nothing but his frown deepened. “I can assure you that I do not have that kind of ability. I’m not even a magic user; I’m a teacher. An academic. I spend my days reading obscure theoretical texts and writing papers on them that only a handful of other people even read. I don’t know how you found your way to me, but I can assure you I’m not the person you want.”

“What about those?” Jun asked, gesturing at the collection of candles and incense Sho kept on his side table.

“Personal use. Nothing magical, I just like the scent.” Sho rubbed his face in frustration. “Don’t you have a way of checking for traces of magic use? I promise you won’t find anything on me.”

Jun didn’t look very pleased by this suggestion but he sighed and pulled an ornate golden disc out from his pocket. Sho thought it looked much like the compact his mother owned, and he was surprised to see when Jun opened it that it similarly contained a mirror and what appeared to be a white powder puff. Except that instead of holding powder, the side of the compact that didn’t have a mirror was just a smooth amethyst surface. Jun placed the powder puff next to the compact on the table in front of him and removed one of the chunky silver rings on his fingers. The top of the ring uncapped to reveal that it was actually hollow inside; a small vial disguised as a ring. He carefully tipped the ring over the compact, spilling deep red powder over the amethyst surface, and then picked up the powder puff to press it firmly against the powder.

Sho watched all of this with unrestrained fascination. He’d seen various people perform magic over the years, but their processes were always slightly different, and most of those he’d known had not been particularly into such carefully constructed rituals.

Jun lifted the powder puff in front of his face, holding it steady before blowing across it firmly. The powder raised into the air, floating to form a shimmering spiral that hung mostly still. Jun snapped his fingers and the particles suddenly dispersed, spreading across the room.

“Do you always need to snap your fingers like that?” asked Sho. He knew that depending on the type of magic being done and the power being used, sometimes people needed a mechanism to direct their spells. It could be an incantation or a special word, but people with enough skill were able to use a simple gesture. Members of the Ministry always seemed to have special gestures they used whenever performing any kind of magic. Sho always wondered how much of it was simply showboating.

Jun just shushed him. Sho looked around the room and could not see where the powder had ended up, too small to be easily visible. He was just about to ask Jun what was next when Jun raised his hand in the air and snapped his fingers again, even louder this time. He shot Sho a challenging glare as he did so. Different parts of the room began to glow and change colours—some of Sho’s books, the lamp Aiba gave him, a collection of small jars of medicinal herbs Sho kept in a locked glass cabinet. Jun himself glowed the strongest, a shimmering coat of purple and white. He fidgeted a little, uncomfortably, and Sho noticed that his eyes were red and watery.

“I hate doing this,” explained Jun at Sho’s look. “The powder makes me sneeze.”

Jun moved his way around the room, inspecting anything that possessed a glowing mark. He didn’t bother to ask Sho to open the cabinet; apparently the appearance of the glowing powder was enough for him to dismiss the jars as inconsequential. Once he’d been around the room, he paused at the open doorway to Sho’s bedroom. “May I?” he asked, and Sho gestured him to go ahead. There was nothing much in there anyway.

Jun returned shortly, seemingly satisfied if not looking particularly happy. He took the ring off his finger once more, uncapping it and twisting the band at the top of the vial. No finger snap was necessary this time to make the powder come drifting back, reverting to its original colour and form as it did, until it all settled into the ring.

“Did anything of note show up?” asked Sho once Jun had put the ring back on his finger.

“No,” replied Jun as he gathered up his compact to stow away safely in his pocket. “Although I don’t know how much you should trust that lamp. It’s… strange.”

“But it has nothing to do with what’s been going on with the weather?”

Jun shook his head. “The magical stamp is totally different. No way it could have caused the disturbance.”

“So can we agree that I probably didn’t do anything then?”

“Seems that way.” Jun ruffled his hair and grimaced. “I’ll have to go back to the Ministry and figure out why this happened.”

“Okay. Good luck?” They stared at each other for a moment. Sho smiled at Jun, hoping he might get to see a smile in return, but Jun’s frown remained ever-present. “I guess I won’t be seeing you again then.”

“I guess so.”

Sho was about to offer to see Jun out, but with a short snap he had already vanished. Apparently they weren’t big on manners at the Ministry, or maybe that was just Jun. Sho didn’t really know, not having much reason to interact with those who worked there. And now he hoped to never again.

The next morning, Jun was back.

Sho just stared at him open-mouthed when he saw Jun standing there at his front doorstep, unsure of how to react. Jun shifted uncomfortably but tried to stay composed, posture rigid and chin held high.

“Hi,” Sho said tentatively, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

Jun gave a short, terse nod in response.

“I thought we cleared everything up yesterday? You said you believed I had nothing to do with the disturbance.”

Jun sighed. “Yes. Well. That’s true.”

“But you’re here. Again.”

“Apparently, my orders remain unchanged.” His words were forced, the muscles of his jaw pulled tight. “There have been no further disruptions to the weather, but the original disturbance still traces back to you. Which means I still have to come here in my official capacity.”

“And do what?”

“Monitor you, basically. Until there’s a better explanation, you’re considered a person of interest to us and hence I have to make sure you really aren’t doing anything illegal.”

“Oh.” Sho blinked. There didn’t really seem to be much to say to that; Jun was a Ministry employee after all, they pretty much did what they liked. Sho might have normally been inclined to lose his temper at how absurd this whole situation was, but Jun looked so regretful that he didn’t really have the heart.

Sho leaned back and opened the door a bit wider. “Would you like some tea?”

 

 

Jun became a fixed addition to Sho’s morning routine. Sho gave up questioning him about his presence, just as he gave up bothering to change before Jun’s arrival. He’d already seen Sho in his pyjamas enough that it didn’t seem worth it. They spent their time together in near silence, Jun sipping his tea and sometimes leafing through a book as Sho read his papers, before leaving after exactly thirty minutes. The only change was the morning Sho had an early lecture to attend. That day, Jun walked with him the entire way to his university’s department, earning them some inquisitive stares from Sho’s students that made him flush. Jun remained, as ever, coolly unaffected.

Sho didn’t really mind Jun’s visits. He was just sort of _there_ , like a vaguely distracting houseplant. Jun was almost even pleasant to be around when he stopped scowling so much and attempted some light conversation. He actually apologised for his grouchiness, claiming to not be much of a morning person. Sho only ever saw Jun in the morning, so he was left to wonder how different Jun might be without that crabby veneer.

Still, after about a week of the visits with no change, Sho did feel like something had to be done. He decided to broach the subject one morning as they sat in their usual respective seats at the table, pausing his reading to put his papers aside. Jun didn’t notice Sho look over at him, head down in concentration as he read one of Sho’s books on fourteenth century agriculture. The way the morning light shone against the side of his face illuminated the pitted imperfections that dotted his cheek. Sho found it oddly charming.

“So,” Sho began. Jun slowly drew his eyes away from the book to meet Sho’s gaze. “Has there been any progress in the investigation? I mean I’m sure you don’t want to have to keep coming back here.”

“The Ministry has been a little preoccupied of late.” Jun closed the book and put it aside. “Most of our resources have been diverted to finding out more information about some strange objects that have begun appearing in the Northern Islands. Seems to be the work of one man—goes by the name of ‘The Magician’. We haven’t found out a lot about him yet.”

Sho made a face at the name. It was a pretty tacky choice of pseudonym—the word _magician_ was usually associated with gaudy street performers and low-rent scammers who peddled their shoddy wares and services to unsuspecting tourists. And even most of them shied away from calling themselves that these days.

Jun sighed. “Yes, I know. I have no idea who even came up with that name or how it spread but now it’s stuck.”

“So your bosses are too busy dealing with this mysterious person.” Sho didn’t miss the way Jun’s upper lip twitched at that and he wondered whether there was something else going on that he was missing. He decided not to press it. “Is there nothing else you can do?”

Jun looked down at the table, face drawn in concentration, and drummed his fingers softly across the surface. “There might be someone,” he said slowly.

“Yes?”

“Someone I know who could probably tell us more about who or what caused the disturbance. That’s kind of his specialty: he can detect magical traces more astutely than anyone I know.”

“But he doesn’t work for the Ministry?”

“No. One of my superiors tried to recruit him but he has no interest. He’ll help us if I ask him to though.”

Sho considered that. It seemed like a promising enough option and he was willing to try anything that might be able to clear up this whole situation for good.

“When can we see him?”

“We can go right now if you like? He doesn’t live far from here.”

Sho stood up, his chair scraping against the floor as it was pushed behind him. “Let’s go then.”

Jun made no movement to stand. He simply stared at Sho, leaning back in his chair, and raised his eyebrows.

“What?” Sho asked.

“Were you wanting to change first?”

Sho looked down and realised he was still wearing his pyjamas. “Oh. Right.”

“So that’s not just a strange sartorial choice then?” said Jun, an irritating smirk creeping across his face. Sho’s cheeks flushed with heat. “I thought maybe it was a personal quirk of yours.”

“No,” he said with as much dignity as he could muster. “I was just about to go change.” He turned and strode to the bedroom, head held high. Sho could only hope Jun wasn’t laughing behind him.

 

 

Jun was right to say his friend lived close by. It only took them a short walk to get there, weaving through the narrow laneways that led downtown. Still, it was hot enough outside that Sho was glad he chose to wear a simple, light shirt and short pants, even if Jun hadn’t looked any more impressed by that outfit than he had by Sho’s pyjamas. But Sho wasn’t exactly planning on taking tips from someone who wore the gaudiest rings Sho had ever seen and currently had two fingernails on his left hand painted black.

They were greeted at the door of the apartment Jun led Sho to by a small, soft-faced man. He had the look of someone who just awoke from a deep sleep, eyes hooded and hair sticking up at odd-angles. Sho thought the man was probably around his own age, but the smooth roundness of his cheeks and the slightly imperfect small teeth that shone through his mouth when he smiled at them made it hard to tell for sure.

“Ohno,” Jun greeted the man, face warming instantly into a bright smile. Sho was taken aback by the sudden change. Jun had smiled a few times during the times they’d spent together, even laughed once when Sho was a little over-ambitious with how much rice he could fit in his mouth and ended up choking, but those smiles were nothing compared to the genuine look of happiness he currently wore. He felt rather deceived.

“It’s been a while, Jun,” said the man—Ohno, Jun called him—and stepped away from the door to let Jun and Sho enter.

Ohno’s apartment was even smaller than Sho’s and similarly cluttered. Except that instead of books lining the walls, there was artwork everywhere. Some of the sketches and paintings hung framed, but most were in stacks that rested against the walls or near the easels that were placed beside the large window on the eastern side of the room. A blank sketchbook lay open on the wooden table near the door, an array of pencils neatly organised in a case next to it.

Sho realised he was staring and snapped himself back to attention. Ohno slouched himself against the edge of the table, seemingly unconcerned that he had just let a complete stranger into his home. He made no move to ask Sho for his name and Jun had immediately wandered off to Ohno’s bedroom to store his jacket, so Sho figured it was up to him to proceed with formalities.

“Hello—Ohno, was it?” This earned the barest of nods. “My name is Sakurai Sho. I’m a…” he paused, trying to find the right word, “an acquaintance of Jun’s. Sorry for intruding on you like this.”

“We were hoping you might be able to help us out with something,” said Jun, returning from the bedroom. Sho had sort of assumed he’d be wearing something similarly fussy under that stuffy jacket of his, but he just had on a simple, white shirt that clung to his shoulders a little tighter than Sho would have preferred.

“What would that be?” said Ohno. Sho tore his eyes of Jun before he could be caught staring.

“Sho here has gotten into a bit of trouble with the Ministry. Some unusual storms appeared in the East Quadrant and their cause was traced back to Sho. Except that we’re pretty sure that Sho had nothing to do with them.”

“Very sure,” Sho corrected. Jun sighed. “The point being, I thought you might be able to find something out about who might really be causing the storms.”

Ohno nodded. He pushed himself off the table and shuffled over to the cabinet near Sho which he opened to pull out a black leather box. He handed the box over to Sho and gestured for the table. “Sit,” said Jun, filling in Ohno’s wordless request. Sho moved to the nearest chair and sat down, placing the box in front of him.

Ohno moved to grab the blank sketchbook and slid it over to Sho. “Please draw a picture of yourself,” he said. “There are pencils in the box. You can use any of them.”

Sho hesitated a little at the request but he reached for the box. Inside were five sharp pencils, each a different colour. They didn’t look very different to the other pencils in the case across the table but Sho supposed there must be some significance to them.

He grabbed the two pencils closest to him, the yellow and the red, and began to draw. Ohno politely moved away and pretended to be occupied with something else as he did so, but Jun did no such thing. He sat down on the chair at the other end of the table to Sho, arms folded against his chest, and stared openly. Sho pulled his head down tighter and tried to ignore him.

“Ah—” Sho exclaimed, realising that he drew his left eye too close to the centre of his face and would not have enough room to fit the other one evenly. “I made a mistake. Can I start over?”

Ohno shook his head. “It’s fine. Just keep going with what you’re doing.” Sho pouted a little but he went back to his drawing, trying to fix it as best he could.

Just when Sho had almost finished, Jun pushed himself out of his chair and leaned over the table to look closer at Sho’s drawing. “Are those supposed to be your arms? Why are they sticking out like that?” He reached out to stop Sho’s hand as he tried to cover his drawing. “And what’s with the weirdly sloping shoulders?” Jun looked up, still holding Sho’s hand, and traced his eyes across Sho’s torso. “Actually, that part is pretty accurate.”

Sho pulled his hand away and quickly scribbled two circles for shoes, ignoring Jun. “I’ve finished,” he said as he lifted the sketchbook off the table, away from Jun’s eyes, and handed it over to Ohno. Ohno said nothing once again, just took Sho’s drawing to place on one of the easels on the other side of the room. He then sat down on the stool in front of a large, abstract painting on the easel next to it and shifted himself closer to stare at the painting, occasionally glancing at Sho’s drawing.

“East Quadrant, you said?”

“Yes.” Jun moved a bit closer to Ohno. “We recorded the disturbance about ten days ago, if that helps. Haven’t noticed any more peculiarities in the past week.”

Sho also stood up to move near Ohno. Looking at the painting closer, he realised that what he thought was just a mess of colourful lines and shapes was actually a rather impressionistic representation of their world. He could see now the outlines of the islands across the canvas and various repeated patterns that he supposed symbolised something, though he couldn’t quite figure out what.

Ohno turned around on his stool to face them. “Those storms do trace back to Sho,” he said. Sho’s heart sank for a second before Ohno continued. “But the magic isn’t his. Wrong colour. Someone else created that link so it would look like Sho did it.”

“Someone else?”

“The same person who created the storms.”

Jun turned to Sho. “Any ideas of who might have done that? Anyone who doesn’t like you very much?”

Sho frowned and shook his head. “Only rival professors or students unhappy with their grades. But most of them have about as much magic as I do, so I can’t see any of them possessing the ability to do anything like this.”

“Are you sure? No chance that one of them might know a particularly powerful sorcerer or have a close friend in the Ministry who could see to it that you be framed?”

Sho raised his eyebrows a little at Jun’s implication that he believed Ministry members could be corrupt enough to pull something like that but he shrugged. Jun sighed and looked back at Ohno.

“Do you think you can trace this person for us?”

Ohno tilted his head and scratched his chin lightly. “I’ll try.” He pushed himself off the stool to walk over and curl onto the small couch, folding his legs up underneath him and sinking back into the cushions. His eyes fell shut as he took slow, deep breaths, shoulders drooping even further.

Sho felt a hand press against his elbow and he turned his head to see Jun, who jerked his head in the direction of Ohno’s bedroom and nudged him forward. Sho let himself be guided into the room silently, Jun closing the door behind them. “It will probably take Ohno a bit of time to find our mysterious friend and it’s better if we don’t unintentionally disturb him while he searches,” Jun said once they were inside, voice barely above a whisper.

Sho nodded and Jun moved to sit on Ohno’s small bed, leaning back to rest against the wall. He pulled an arm up behind his head and the movement caused his shirt to pull tighter across his chest, a small sliver of pale skin revealing itself where it rode up above the waist of his pants. Sho looked away. The room felt starkly bare compared to the clutter outside; there was only the bed, a plain wooden dresser with Jun’s jacket draped across its top surface, and a simple watercolour of boats docked on the harbour that hung on the wall.

Fidgeting with his hands, Sho turned back to Jun. “How long have you known Ohno?” he said finally, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence.

“A couple of years now. My superior introduced us when we were working on a case tracking down illegal magical artefact smugglers. He liked to ask Ohno for help tracing the source of any kind of magic use in more difficult cases. Said he was far more talented and efficient than anyone at the Ministry.”

“And that’s what he’s doing now?”

“Yes. Ohno has an innate ability to detect people’s unique auras and he can see these auras in the marks left by any magic a person performs. I’m not sure if following these traces beyond physical vision was something he was taught or something that came natural, but Ohno used to only be able to do it through painting. It’s only in the past year that he’s been able to use meditation to search further and more accurately than before.”

Sho nodded. “So, why did you not ask for his help before? I mean, if it could have saved you the trouble of having to come check up on me every morning while not knowing anything about who it is you really want?”

Jun sighed. “It’s… complicated. The superior I mentioned got in a bit of trouble for working so much with Ohno. Some people at the Ministry don’t exactly like the idea of outsiders getting so involved in our affairs. Any information I get from Ohno right now will just be ignored by them. But I don’t really like sitting around doing nothing and everyone is too busy right now to pay me much attention, so we might as well try and hope this leads us somewhere helpful.”

Jun kept his words fairly casual but it worried Sho to think he might be doing something that would get him in trouble with the Ministry. They were hardly known to look kindly on anyone who challenged their authority.

“Thank you,” he said, expression sincere as he met Jun’s eyes. “You didn’t have to go this far for me. I mean, you could have just arrested me that second time you visited me instead of giving me a chance. I’m grateful, truly.”

Jun shifted under Sho’s gaze and merely shrugged in response. They fell into silence once more, no longer looking directly at each other.

Eventually, they were saved from the awkward tension by the sound of the bedroom door clicking open. Ohno stumbled inside, boneless and weary, and headed straight for the bed. Jun moved aside to give Ohno space as he fell into a heap, eyes barely open.

“Are you okay?” asked Sho. Ohno nodded and pulled himself up straighter. Jun steadied him with a hand, rubbing his shoulder gently. “How did it go?”

“Found traces.” His voice was husky and even softer than before. “Somewhere far north.”

“North?” Jun looked at Sho and their eyes met in understanding. “The Magician.”

Ohno cocked his head. “Magician?”

“Someone the Ministry has been interested in of late. He’s appeared in the Northern Islands, bringing people some strange objects. If that’s where you traced the person responsible for the storms to, it seems likely that they’re one and the same.”

Sho nodded. It made sense that the same person was responsible for all the mysterious incidents that had occurred recently. Laws of probability and all.

“So he’s in one of the Northern Islands then?”

Ohno shook his head. “I found traces of his magic but he’s not there anymore. He’s no longer in this world at all.”

Jun frowned. “You sure?”

“I can’t search as far as other worlds from here but I can tell he’s been crossing in and out of this world. It leaves a pretty distinct mark, even if he tries to disguise it. I think the last time he was here was several days ago.”

“And if he comes back?” Sho asked. “Will you know?”

“Unlikely.” Ohno shrugged. “I would have to be trying to locate him like how I just did while he’s actually here.”

Jun pushed himself off the bed and paced a small circle in the room, his brow furrowed and a hand running through his hair. “I can’t travel between worlds without going through the Ministry first,” he said, seemingly more to himself to either Sho or Ohno. “But I can’t tell them I got my information from Ohno and I definitely wouldn’t be allowed to take Ohno with me.” He stopped his pacing and sighed. “Even if I did tell them about this, they probably wouldn’t be able to track this guy down anyway. They haven’t managed to make any progress so far.”

Sho cleared his throat. “Um. I don’t know if this helps, but—I know someone who can travel between worlds.” Ohno and Jun both looked at him. “Without needing any spells and without being detected by the Ministry. He does it a lot.”

Jun took a small step closer to Sho. “And your friend can take other people with him when he goes?”

“Well, I’ve never been anywhere with him, but I think he figured out how to? Doesn’t hurt to at least ask, right?”

Jun looked over at Ohno. “You would be able to trace this guy through the paths to the other worlds, wouldn’t you? We did something similar once before.”

Ohno frowned. “I’d need a couple of days to make the charm like what I had last time.”

“That’s fine. I don’t have to work on Saturday anyway so it’s better if we try to do this then.” Jun turned back to Sho. “Do you think your friend will help us if we ask him to?”

“If he can, then definitely.” Sho smiled. “You can always rely on Aiba for help.”

 

 

There weren’t many people who could travel between worlds without the use of a powerful spell, but Aiba Masaki was one of them. It was a talent he first accidentally discovered as a child while playing by himself in the woods near his house. Aiba hadn’t realised he’d managed to leave the woods for another world entirely, too excited by the discovery of a perfect tree for climbing, until he was approached by a tall, oddly dressed man with a rather severe frown on his narrow face. “This isn’t right,” the man said, peering up at Aiba where he was perched on a tree branch. “You shouldn’t be here.” He took Aiba back to his house and sternly told him not to go wandering down strange pathways anymore.

Of course, Aiba had not listened. He took every chance he got to try find his way down those strange, dark, paths, eager to explore all the new places they led to. It became something of a game for Aiba, to see how far he could go before the tall man showed up to send him home. Eventually, the man became tired of the game of hide-and-seek. He gave Aiba a small, gold pendant, affixed to a simple chain, and made him promise to keep it on him and turn around if ever the pendant grew hot. He also made Aiba promise not to stay away from home too long, but Aiba said he wouldn’t want his parents to worry about him so he never planned to anyway.

It was after one of those journeys Aiba took, many years later, that Aiba and Sho first met. Sho had returned to his office at the university one day to find Aiba standing inside, a confused frown on his face. Sho had also been fairly confused to see Aiba, as he was fairly sure that he’d left the office locked.

“Can I help you?” Sho asked, drawing back slightly in case he needed to run and get help. He wasn’t sure what the protocol was for strange men showing up unannounced in your office, but he didn’t think it was covered in the university handbook.

Aiba rubbed his forehead, face twisted into a sort of apologetic grimace. “Ah, I’m sorry. I must have made a mistake. I don’t know how I ended up here.” And with that he made a hasty bow and rushed past Sho out of the office, leaving Sho feeling no less confused than before.

Aiba later returned to Sho’s office (entering through the front door this time, though without bothering to knock) to apologise properly. He explained everything over the lunch he insisted treating Sho to, from the journeys he took visiting other worlds, to the strange man he first met as a child. He told Sho that he had been on the way back from visiting a friend when he found himself in Sho’s office.

“It’s strange,” said Aiba between slurping up mouthfuls of noodles, “how I ended up in your office. Sometimes I get a bit lost, but I’m not usually so off-target when I return here. Feels like some kind of fate!”

Apparently that was enough to convince Aiba that they were meant to be best friends and Sho found it pretty hard to resist Aiba’s charms. He didn’t have many friends outside of the university anyway, so it was nice to spend time with someone who didn’t want to talk about obscure texts and department cuts. Aiba was fun to be around, always telling him incredible stories about his travels and taking him to places in the city Sho had never been to before.

That did not extend to Aiba taking Sho with him on his journeys to other worlds, though they had tried once, early on in their friendship. It was always a dream of Aiba’s to be able to take others with him and let them experience all the wonders he had found over the years. But traveling between worlds was difficult and dangerous, and most people weren’t interested in the risk when they were perfectly happy where they were. The Ministry had done a good job of portraying other worlds as terrible and backwards places that were safer left alone.

Sho never bought too much into Ministry propaganda but he still never had much desire to try and visit other worlds. Too many horror stories had cropped up in the history books he read. But Aiba had been so enthusiastic that he agreed to go along with the experiment for his sake. It ended with Sho staggering onto the floor, engulfed by a thick wave of nausea, as Aiba disappeared right in front of him. He hadn’t wanted to try again after that.

Still, he was willing to try again this time, if it meant finding the mysterious man who had caused so much disruption to his ordinary life. He didn’t enjoy being falsely accused, for starters, and he had to say his curiosity had been piqued by what they had discovered at Ohno’s place. That might have something to do with the way Jun had positively lit up with anticipation at the thought of actually being able to do something to resolve everything, a fresh glint in his eyes as they parted. Sho found his overwhelming energy kind of intoxicating.

Sho had classes to attend to after he left Ohno's that day, so he decided to stop by Aiba’s place as soon as they were done. Fortunately Aiba was actually there, joyful as ever to see Sho. He only got more excited as Sho told him everything that had happened lately, eyes widening at each new revelation and arms gesturing wildly when he interrupted Sho to make a comment. As soon as Sho told him about how they determined the man they were looking for was in another world, Aiba practically vibrated off his seat, already eager to offer Sho his assistance.

“Are you sure you can take all of us with you?” Sho asked, interrupting Aiba’s somewhat garbled tirade.

“Yep! Pretty sure, anyway. Don’t worry, Sho, it won’t be like the last time we tried. I figured out a better way to do it.”

Sho nodded, still feeling a bit uneasy but happy that he would have some good news to report back to Jun.

Jun was there at Sho’s apartment as usual the next day, except that his expression seemed a lot warmer this time at the sight of Sho. He politely followed Sho inside and waited for him to make them both tea before broaching the topic he clearly had been itching to discuss ever since he arrived.

“I talked to my friend,” said Sho. “He’s totally happy to help. He can take us through the paths to the other worlds.”

Jun’s eyes lit up and he immediately began detailing his plans for when they should meet and what approach they should take when they found the man they were looking for. Sho felt the corners of his mouth curl up as he watched the assured way Jun spoke, firm gestures punctuating every point.

Jun broke off mid-sentence to look at Sho. “Is something funny?”

Sho shook his head. “No,” he said, trying to cover his smile with his cup. “Keep going, I’m listening.”

Jun stared at him a moment before he continued speaking. Sho put his cup down and tried to look more serious as he nodded along to everything Jun said, but he couldn’t quite help the way his face warmed every time Jun’s eyes locked with his.

 

 

When Saturday morning rolled around, Aiba was the first to arrive at Sho’s apartment, early enough to wake Sho from his sleep. He was all aflutter with nervous energy, bouncing around Sho as he tried to get ready.

“Aiba,” he said with exasperation when Aiba tried to follow him into the bathroom. “Go outside and just sit. I need to shower.”

Sho returned from his shower to find Jun also there in the living room with Aiba. His usual uniform was gone, replaced with more casual clothes that suited him far better. He looked slightly alarmed by Aiba, who was chatting at him excitedly. Sho was sure it wouldn’t take too long before Aiba won him over. He had that kind of way with people.

“Hello,” said Sho to the pair as he entered the room.

“Sho! Jun is here!”

“I noticed.” He nodded at Jun.

Jun cleared his throat. “Aiba told me it’s better if we leave from outside the city. If we go to my place, I can transport us there without being detected. We can pick Ohno up on the way.”

Sho nodded slowly. Jun must be more powerful than he realised if he could do that.

“Okay. Just let me find my keys.”

They walked to Ohno’s apartment together, the streets still fairly quiet so early on a Saturday. Most of the silence was filled by Aiba, with Sho occasionally responding to his comments or laughing at something he said. Jun hardly spoke, but when Sho glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, he seemed to be listening to everything they said.

When they arrived, Aiba and Sho waited outside Ohno’s apartment building as Jun went inside to collect him.

“I like Jun,” Aiba said suddenly. “He looks kind of scary but in a cool way, you know? He seems interesting.”

Sho hummed in response. "He's less intimidating when you get to know him."

“I’m glad you’re friends with him now. You spend too much time by yourself.”

Sho frowned. He wasn’t sure that he could exactly call Jun a friend. Though he supposed he wasn’t sure how to describe their relationship. How do you refer to someone who you only really saw in the first place because they were ordered to, but who had their own cup in your apartment that you carefully made sure to wash and set aside in anticipation of their visit? A person who might not smile much or offer friendly words, but when they did, it became a treasured memory that you carried around with you all day.

Sho was about to say something to Aiba when Jun returned, Ohno in tow. Sho greeted Ohno and introduced him to Aiba, both of them smiling at each other politely.

“I don’t live far from here,” said Jun. “It won’t take long.”

It turned out that Jun’s apartment was even closer to Sho’s than Ohno’s was. He wondered how he’d never seen Jun out on the streets before. Or maybe he had and just dismissed Jun as soon as he saw the navy uniform without ever looking at Jun’s face.

Jun’s apartment was smaller than Sho expected, but the inside was tidy and and the furnishings gave a strong impression of expensive taste. The only thing marring the carefully co-ordinated decor was a large circle drawn on floor in the centre of the room.

“Stand inside the circle,” said Jun, gesturing towards it. “Make sure to keep your feet clear of the line.”

They arranged themselves in the circle, shifting their feet until they were all comfortably standing well within the bounds. Jun checked to make sure nothing was touching the edge before he joined them.

“Keep still,” he said and snapped his fingers.

Sho barely felt anything change, just a sudden cool breeze against his face. He looked around to see they were outside, surrounded by nothing but trees and grass. To the left of him, the ground was covered by colourful autumn leaves, but further right he could see the trees were still green, shining in the sunlight.

“We should be in the North Quadrant, right near the barrier to the West,” Jun said to Aiba. “That’s where you wanted us to be, right?”

"Yes! I’ve discovered that it’s easier to take other people with me if we go through where the quadrants meet.”

Jun nodded slowly. “Making use of the gaps created by the imperfect barriers between the quadrants and the high amounts of magical energy.” He looked at Aiba. “That’s smart.”

Aiba smiled. “Thanks.”

“So, how will this work exactly?” said Sho. He still felt fairly on edge, despite how calm the others appeared to be, remembering how poorly the last time went.

“Everyone should hold hands and follow my lead. I haven’t tried this with more than one person before, so hopefully it will work.”

“I’ve done this before, though a bit differently, so I should be okay,” said Jun.

“Great! It’s probably best if Sho is between you and me, seeing as he doesn’t have his own magic to help him with this.  
No offence, Sho.”

Sho smiled weakly and moved closer to Aiba’s outstretched hand. He rubbed his palms against his slacks quickly before taking hold of Aiba’s hand, hoping the others wouldn’t notice how clammy they were. Jun stepped up beside him and took Sho’s other hand, his long fingers winding around Sho’s to grip him tightly. Sho could feel the harsh edges of his rings press into his skin.

“Okay,” said Aiba once they were all in a line. “What you want to do is sort of edge sideways and lean in as you follow me. It might feel a little uncomfortable, but whatever you do, don’t let go of each other, okay?”

Sho swallowed the lump in his throat and took a deep breath, trying to relax the tension in his shoulders. He felt a short squeeze against his left hand—Sho didn’t know if Jun was just readjusting his grip or if he noticed how tense Sho was and was attempting to reassure him. He let his fingers curl slightly tighter around Jun’s.

Aiba began to move and Sho willed himself to follow, eyes screwing shut as Aiba’s body disappeared from sight. Forces seemed to tug at his body from all directions as he passed through the invisible barrier and Sho tried to angle himself to push through, remembering Aiba’s advice, until they ebbed away. He opened his eyes but there was only darkness surrounding him, pitch-black. It suddenly felt like the front of his body was sliding against a smooth glass surface and Sho had to scrabble for purchase with his feet as the ground began to soften and slip away from under him. He wanted to reach his hands out and grab hold of something to steady himself but Aiba and Jun kept their hands tightly clasped to his. Sho closed his eyes again and let himself be pulled along by Aiba, desperately moving his feet to keep up.

Finally, the ground became firmer beneath him. Sho stumbled a bit and moved his hands to grab his knees as soon as they were free, bent over and breathing heavily. He could faintly make out the sound of Aiba’s voice saying something but it was drowned out by the loud buzzing in his eardrums. Sho tried to steady himself, eyes still shut as he stood hunched over, until his breathing evened out and the buzzing subsided.

He looked up. Aiba and Ohno were standing in front of him, backs slightly turned with their heads bent towards each other, deep in murmured conversation. He could see nothing beyond them, not even the faintest outline of the ground. Sho started to panic again.

Something shifted in the edge of Sho’s vision and he turned his face to see Jun standing there, eyebrows knitted together and staring at Sho. Only then did Sho notice the slight pressure on his back that moved as Jun slid his hand around to grasp Sho’s shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Jun asked.

“I can’t see.”

“You can’t see me?”

“No.” Sho straightened his body and looked around, confirming that he was unable to make out any part of their surroundings. “I can see you. And Aiba and Ohno. But that’s it. You’re just like strangely floating figures in a sea of black.”

Jun frowned. He looked around at where they were, obviously seeing things that Sho could not. “Do you want to go back?” he said, turning back to Sho.

“No, I’m—no.” Sho shook his head. “I can do this.”

Jun stared at him for a moment and there wasn’t really anything else Sho could fixate on besides those dark, intense eyes locked on his. “Okay then,” said Jun. “Keep close to me. Here—” he moved his hand from Sho’s shoulder and held it out in front of Sho. “Take hold of me and I’ll guide you.”

Sho swallowed and reached out to grasp Jun’s wrist lightly with his fingers. Jun sighed impatiently and broke out of Sho’s hold to grab his hand properly, fingers closing over him in a firm grip. Sho was glad Jun immediately looked over at Aiba and Ohno so he missed the way Sho’s eyes widened and his face flushed.

“Are we going?” Jun called out to the others. Sho shifted to try block the view of their hands but he didn’t miss the the way Aiba’s eyes flitted down to where they were entwined, eyebrows lifting slightly upward before his face broke into a cheerful smile.

It was definitely beyond strange to walk through the dark nothingness hand-in-hand with Jun. Like Sho had fallen asleep at some point and was now lost in a dream, except that the warmth of Jun’s skin against his was far too real for that. Occasionally Jun would pull Sho closer or pause to tell him how he should move, whispering instructions into his ear. His breath tickled down the nape of Sho’s neck, making Sho shiver slightly at the sensation.

Aiba stopped suddenly, ahead of them. “You said to go left through here?” he said to Ohno, who gave a short nod in response. “Hmm. I think I might know where we’re going.” He turned to face the others. “Everyone should join hands again. There’s another barrier just ahead.” They stared at him curiously but complied, following after Aiba’s confident strides.

It wasn’t as difficult this time to pass through the barrier. There was a split second where Sho felt like he was free falling before his feet hit solid ground, grass crunching under the soles of his boots. Sho was glad to find he could see his surroundings once more, faint light illuminating the trees on the horizon. It surely hadn’t been that long since they left the city but it appeared to be evening wherever they were now, only the smallest sliver of sunlight peeking through the dusky sky. Shortly ahead of them was a small house. A stone path ran up to the front door through overgrown grass and Aiba headed towards it with no hesitation. The rest of them stayed behind a moment, looking at each other, before they moved to follow him.

“Nino!” Aiba called as he reached the house.

Sho stopped.

_Nino?_

It wasn’t a common enough nickname to dismiss outright as coincidence but Sho didn’t want to believe it. It would be too surreal to come all this way only to find the man they’d been searching for was someone he knew. Had known, anyway. Too much time had probably passed to say they still knew each other.

He didn’t realise that Jun had also stilled beside him until he heard similarly confused _“Nino?”_ escape from Jun’s lips, startling him. Sho glanced over to see Jun’s eyebrows drawn and his mouth hanging open in evident surprise. Either more people went by the name Nino than he realised or they were about to head into a strange reunion.

Sho hurried forward to catch up with Ohno, vaguely aware of Jun following behind him. He stepped through the already open door to see Aiba wrapped around someone in a tight embrace, his back blocking the man from view. Aiba stepped aside and Sho could finally see him. The messy hair that curled around his small, pointy face, the sharp glint of his eyes as he grinned, revealing a familiar gummy smile.

“Nino.”

It was him, the same Nino that Sho had known so many years ago back when he was still a student at the university. He barely seemed changed since then, still the same slight figure and deceptively cute face. They had been friends of a sort, though Nino was a year younger and always skipping class, until Nino disappeared, bored of university life.

Nino looked at Sho, still smiling though his eyes grew sharper. “Sho.” His gaze drifted over behind Sho. “And Jun as well.”

“You know each other?” exclaimed Aiba, looking from Nino to Sho. He hit Nino’s shoulder. “Why didn’t you say anything? I’ve talked about Sho before.”

Nino nudged an elbow sharp into Aiba’s side in return. “You never asked. And I didn’t think it was that important.”

Sho turned to Jun. “You know Nino too?” Jun nodded.

Nino sighed. “Yes, yes, everyone knows each other somehow.” He turned to Ohno, frowning. “Except you. I don’t know you.”

Ohno gave him a brief nod in response. “Ohno.”

Nino hummed and slinked over to stand in front of Ohno, sizing him up. Ohno kept still, face blank as he stared back at Nino, even when Nino reached a hand around to dig into Ohno’s back pocket. Nino pulled his hand back out to reveal his prize: a silver fish hook with a small glass bead on the end that glowed a warm golden colour at Nino’s touch.

“Cute,” he said, examining the object with his fingers. “You used this to find me?” Nino looked back at Aiba. “Seems like needless trouble—did you forget the way here, Aiba?”

“I didn’t know we would end up here!” Aiba pouted. “We were looking for this Magician guy. Is that you, Nino? What have you been doing?”

Nino laughed. “Have they been using that name? Seriously?” He looked at Jun, wide-eyed amusement dancing across his features.

Jun frowned. “I don’t think this is really a laughing matter. You could be in some big trouble, you realise?”

“My my, J, you’ve gotten awfully serious these past few years. Ministry turned you into a self-important bore?”

“Well you just seem to have gotten more reckless. Thought you were more the type to hole away with your toys than to threaten the Ministry.”

“So, what—did you come here to arrest me? And here I thought we would be having a nice, friendly chat.”

“Nino,” interrupted Sho, before Jun could say anything further. “We’re just trying to figure out what’s going on. I don’t think any of us were expecting to end up here so we’re a little confused.”

Nino stared at him and sighed. He moved over to prop himself on the arm of his couch, hunched form leaning over to rest an arm across the back. Only then did Sho really notice the strange contents of the room behind him. A large, black box was affixed to the wall, sort of flat and rectangular, like a particularly strange artwork. Smaller boxes and oddly-shaped objects covered the small cabinet beneath it, connected to the larger box by thick cables. He wondered if these were related to the objects that the Ministry had discovered.

“So you came all this way in this merry band of yours to ask me if I’m this 'Magician' you’re after?” said Nino.

“Yes,” said Jun, at the same time Sho said, “Not exactly.” They stared at each other for a moment.

“That’s part of it,” said Sho finally, breaking the stare with Jun. “But originally we were looking into the cause of some storms in the East Quadrant. We want to know why you messed with the weather magics and made it appear as if I was responsible.”

“I didn’t.”

“Nino,” Jun said, a growl of warning in his voice.

“I’m serious. That’s not what I was doing.” Nino sighed. “Listen, I’ll explain everything properly, so stop glaring at me like that. It’s annoying.”

“I’ll stop glaring when you stop messing around.”

“I’m not trying to." Nino scrunched his face up and rubbed his eyes before looking back at Jun, face more serious. "Look, I admit that created those storms but I wasn’t trying to do anything to the precious weather magics. There was a bad reaction to an item I brought back with me—a lot of dangerous, negative energy that threatened to get out of hand. I had to do something with it so I put it in a storm and set it over the uninhabited parts of the Eastern Islands. It was the safest way to deal with it. Weather magic is still the strongest magic I know.”

“So you are The Magician then,” said Jun. “You’ve been bringing back objects from other worlds into ours.”

“If you really want to call me that.”

“Why?”

“Why not? I know you’re not stupid, Jun, so don’t act like it. Those fools who run the Ministry like to pretend everything is perfect because they can control the weather but it’s not. There are entire worlds out there with no magic at all and the people who live there cope just fine without it. Some of them have technology way beyond what we can do with our magic.” Nino shrugged. “When Aiba showed me these places, I saw an opportunity.”

“To wreak havoc?”

“To help people. The last time was a mistake; I brought back something I shouldn’t have. But everything else I’ve brought over has been perfectly safe. Once the Ministry stop throwing every spell they can think to at them, they’ll see that.”

“See?” said Aiba, moving to place a hand on Nino’s shoulder. “Everything’s just been a bit of a misunderstanding. Nino’s not a bad person.” He frowned slightly and looked at Nino. “Though I wish you would have told me about this before. I could have helped.”

“Wait,” said Sho. “I don’t understand. How did I get involved in this?”

“Ah.” Nino picked at the loose threads on the couch and looked up at Sho. “I needed to anchor the storm to someone with absolutely no magic in them whatsoever to neutralise it. It was kind of a complicated spell, really old magic. You were the first person to come to mind.”

Sho frowned. “I think I might feel vaguely insulted.”

“If it makes you feel better, I needed someone with a lot of strength to put up with it. Probably gave you a killer of a headache.”

Sho remembered now, the shooting pain he had suddenly felt in his temple during a lecture one day. It was the most engaged he’d ever seen his students, the way they all reacted in horror at his loud cry of pain. He went home early that day and slept a solid twelve hours, only to wake feeling completely fine again.

“That was really stupid of you Nino,” said Jun, his voice still sharp. “You put Sho at a lot of risk. The Ministry could have decided to arrest him.”

“I’m sorry. Really. But I didn’t realise that anyone would see the link between Sho and the storms and assume he caused them. And even if they did, they should have realised Sho couldn’t have been responsible.”

“Jun did realise,” said Sho. “But it didn’t remove the suspicion. He still had to come by my apartment every day to check up on me.”

Nino turned to Jun, eyebrows raised. “Really? You had to visit Sho personally to keep an eye on him?” His lips curled up into a smirk. “That’s interesting.”

Jun shifted under Nino’s gaze and said nothing. Sho looked at Nino but he didn’t elaborate, content to stay amused at whatever private joke he was having at Jun’s expense.

A sneeze from the other side of the room broke the strained silence. “Ah, sorry,” said Ohno. He sneezed twice more. “I seem to be allergic to something.”

“The computers,” said Nino, waving a vague hand behind him. Sho frowned at the unfamiliar word. “They seem to not react well to certain types of magic. You probably should be getting home now. Unless there was anything else you needed to interrogate me about?” He directed the last statement mostly at Jun.

“No,” said Jun. “But I think there are some conversations you and I need to have about what you’ve been up to lately.”

Nino's lips curled up into a half-smile. “Looking forward to it. Are you going to rat me out to the Ministry?”

Jun shook his head.

“Good. Then I think I might come with you.” Nino pushed himself off the couch. “Seems I need to fix a few things. And I know some spells that will make the trip back a lot easier.” He moved to the door and the others followed him out, a little dazed by everything that had just occurred.

Sho fell into step beside Jun as they walked from Nino’s house, a few strides behind the other three. “Everything okay?” he asked, noting Jun’s furrowed brow.

“Just a lot to think about. Nino is kind of frustrating.”

“How do you know each other anyway?”

Jun snorted. “He trained with me at the Ministry. Before he left.”

Sho’s eyes widened and he came to a sudden stop. He tried to imagine Nino in Jun’s stiff, navy uniform, walking around imperiously as he followed Ministry orders. Maybe it could have been Nino who ended up at Sho’s door that first morning and he never would have even met Jun. He could have had Nino's sarcastic jibes greeting him every day instead of Jun's pouty frowns that only faded after he'd finished half a cup of tea.

Sho looked ahead to where the others were stopped, waiting for Sho and Jun. Aiba and Nino seemed to be arguing about something, but they were smiling at each other and Ohno stood to one side laughing.

He looked back at Jun, who had stopped next to Sho and was looking at him, waiting patiently. “Shall we?” said Sho and he reached out to grab Jun’s hand, not caring that he could have waited until they were at the barrier with the others to do that. Jun’s fingers curled around his and they set off for home.

 

 

For three days after they got back, there was no Jun to intrude on Sho’s morning.

On the fourth day, a sharp knock at the door had him leaping out of his chair, almost breaking into a run before he was able to calm himself enough to walk normally.

Jun was standing there when he opened the door and Sho couldn’t help the huge smile that broke across his face. This time, he was rewarded with a slight smile from Jun in return.

“Come in,” said Sho, moving aside to let Jun enter.

“Wait.” Jun’s smile faded and his face grew more serious. “I can’t stay.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t know what Nino did, but the Ministry has cleared you of all suspicion. I don’t have to come here anymore.”

“Maybe he didn’t do anything. Surely the Ministry wasn’t going to make you come over here just to check up on me forever, right?”

“Right.”

They fell into silence. There didn’t seem to be much else to say, but Jun looked reluctant to leave.

“You know…” said Sho, “you don’t have to come here under orders. You’re welcome to just visit me. I still have that tea you like.” He smiled at Jun again, more tentative this time.

“I have to work in the mornings,” said Jun. Sho’s face dropped. “But if you’re free, maybe we can see each other later in the day sometime? I’ve heard I’m far more pleasant company in the evenings.”

Sho nodded. “I think that could be nice. After all, I’m sure I look better dressed in proper clothes.”

“Based on what I’ve seen, I’m not sure if that’s true.” Jun smiled, eyes shining in the sunlight. “But I look forward to finding out.”

**Author's Note:**

> This story was generally inspired by Diana Wynne Jones, but in particular, concepts surrounding different worlds and travelling between them borrowed from _Chrestomanci_ and _The Merlin Conspiracy_.
> 
> Title is a song by The Flaming Lips.


End file.
